Kay's Daily Journal
September 2006
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September 30, 2006 - Sabbath
Today in Weather History:
1875: What weather observers "observe" has changed with time. Among the remarks noted by the Lynchburg, VA., observer, was today's migration of hundreds of squirrels across the James River.
I didn't know that squirrels migrated. The only time my squirrels have "changed" is after Hurricane Isabel (Sept 2003), all my old friendly regulars had disappeared. Blown away, no doubt.
It was a shame too. I had them almost tame, I mean about 20 of them. They would come for peanuts and sunflower seeds and corn. Loved it. I had them all named too. It's funny when you think they all look alike, but when they come each day, you notice things about different ones. Like "Pirate," the one-eyed squirrel. Then there was "Scotty" who got that name because he had a redish tail, you know, red hair, Scotland.... Yeah, I know, some of the names seem strange. "Scarface" had huge scars, not on his face, but on both sides of his body, like he had escaped the talons of a hawk or eagle. I could go on but there's more...
I had to "retrain" the "new" squirrels about peanuts after Hurricane Isabel. They didn't know what they were and of course, they were afraid of me to start with. Now I can open my kitchen door and call "peanuts" and a couple come right up the steps. They won't take them from my hand yet, but I haven't worked with them much yet this year, due to my ankle. But as the winter comes on and food becomes more scarce in the woods, they'll come. Oh, yes. They will come.
What have I accomplished this month? I mentioned earlier that I was going to do this list. Seth started it and I thought it was a really neat idea. So many times I feel like I haven't done anything all month, but when you keep a log, you see that you have done stuff over and beyond the normal housework and errands.
Bible Read: (restarted)
Genesis Chapters 1 - 25
Home Studies:
Received completion Certificate for Amazing Prophecies Bible Studies
Ordered Bible Discovery Bible Studies
Ordered Bible Prophecy Studies (Amazing Facts)
Ordered Bible Oracle Studies (Amazing Facts)
Ordered Bible Studies (Worldwide Church of God)
Online SS Lessons (SDA): (5) 2006-3rd Quarter - 9/2, 9/9, 9/16, 9/23, 9/30
Daily Readings:
Patriarchs and Prophets by E.G. White, Chapters 1 - 13, pages 1-152
The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren, Chapters 1 - 10, pages 1-84
My Utmost to His Highest by Oswald Chambers, September 15 - 18
Books Read - Non-fiction:
Abstracts of Kent County MD Wills, Vol. 1 1777-1816
Abstracts of Kent County MD Wills, Vol. 2 1816-1867
Maryland Eastern Shore Vital Records, Vol. 1 1648-1725
Drawing Realistic Faces
Ultimate Scrapbook Pages
Family Heritage Scrapbook Pages
Painting with Brenda Harris Volume 1 - Cherished Moments
Painting Basics Volume 1 by Jerry Yarnell
Books Read - Fiction:
Chill of Fear - Kay Hooper
Harrigan's Cross - Nora Roberts
Mississippi Mistress - Gina Robins
Mr. Perfect - Linda Howard
Open Season - Linda Howard
MacKenzie's Mountain - Linda Howard
MacKenzie's Mission - Linda Howard
Savage Ecstasy - Janelle Taylor
Defiant Ecstasy - Janelle Taylor
Forbidden Ecstasy - Janelle Taylor
True Colors - Diana Palmer
Heartbreaker - Diana Palmer
Bet Me - Jennifer Cruisie
Twice Kissed - Lisa Jackson
Hurricane - Karen Harper
Just for Kicks - Susan Andersen
Movies & Specials on TV:
Most Amazing Prophecies (3ABN) 10 episode series
RV (movie)
She's the Man (movie)
Webpage Updates - kayurie.com
Daily Journals (dailies)
News Archives (end of month standard)
Index (end of month standard)
Oils (added 1 jpg of painting done in July)
Drawings (added 6 jpgs of drawings, September's)
Webpage Updates - uriefamily.com
Surnames Page (new names added, links added)
---Brown, Kennard, Hepburn, Mackall, Medford, Parks, Pullen
Individual Surname pages Updated:
---each and every one of the surname pages and others (215 webpages) - (new source info added, new contact-design info added, broken links fixed)
Genealogy Projects:
Scanned Kent Co Md Marriage Licenses
Scanned QA Co Md Marriage Licenses
FTM Updates: ---Brown, Hepburn, Kennard, Mackall, Medford, Parks, Phillips, Pullen
QV's: ---Anderson, Ashley, Beck, Berryman, Blackiston, Byrd, Cannon, Carlisle, Carter, Ricketts, Urie
Artwork Projects:
Oil paintings: 0 completed;
Drawings: 5 completed;
1890's Lady, September
1800's Man, September
Clipper Ship, September
Imagination, September
Mixed Heritage Face, September
After going over this list, I realized that the oil painting that I did and added the jpg to my webpages, was actually painted way back in JULY!!!! Has it been THAT long since I painted???? Well, I'll remedy that, hopefully, during October! Still need to figure out a "drying rack" for multiple oils to be drying on at the same time! It's a pain stacking them on my bookshelves and tops of cabinets, hoping they won't get too dusty or put oil on my books and furniture! Gotta figure somethin' out soon.
Also please note, that many of the books are "rereads", you know, books I have already read at least once previously. The various Bible studies are very short reads with a quick multiple choice answering system at the end, which you can mail in and after you complete the entire series, they send you the certificate as well as other books. I received "Prophets and Kings" which I will read after I read "Patriarchs and Prophets" through. It was required reading when I was in academy, but I'm reading it for my own pleasure now.
You also need to remember that most of this month I was not very mobile. Still had a cast on, still not supposed to be on my ankle at all, only with crutches or the wheelchair. The fact that I was more mobile than the doctor permitted was due to the fact that I really believe that God healed my ankle, but I restrained my movement somewhat to comply with doctor's orders. So time spent with my ankle elevated was put to use by reading. And I read alot, many times through the entire night. So that's the explanation for so many books read during this month. I am normally a big reader, (but not so many books in a month), not happy unless I'm reading a little each day, doesn't matter what it is, as long as I can read. Magazines, well, I didn't even list those. Books, non-fiction, fiction, instructional, doesn't matter. I love to read.
Now retention of what I read? Well, that's a whole 'nother subject!
So maybe I haven't changed the world. Maybe I haven't contributed to mankind in any way. But I'm starting on me, changing my own ways. There's always hope.
Well, enough for September. Hope you haven't gotten too bored reading all my thoughts.
September 29, 2006 - Friday
Today in Weather History:
1986: Tragedy averted. Flooding swept a school bus off a bridge NW of Udall, Kansas; the water was rising 1' every 15 minutes. The driver and 15 students were able to reach safety by going through one of the window openings.
Storms weren't bad here in our area of King George last night. We did get a fair amount of heavy rain, a little lightning and thunder, but no winds. I understand that there was a confirmed tornado in Severna Park, MD, F1 with 90 mph winds which tore up an area about 2 miles long.
I believe there were at least 3 tornadoes, one in VA, one in MD and one in PA. There were also numerous reports of hail and wind damages, trees down, mostly, for the eastern part of VA up in the Prince William and Fauquier Counties. Down in Amelia Co, southwest of Richmond, a silo was toppled. There were numerous accounts of wind damage all over western and southern VA also. But we were lucky. Nothing severe here at all to the best of my knowledge. Though, what do I know???
Supposed to have a chance of some more light showers sometime this weekend and then the cold front is supposed to back over us heading north again and we will get into the mid 80's mid-week. Blah. Where's my fall????
Didn't do much today, though there is plenty around to do.... My foot/ankle was aching quite abit last night so tried to keep it elevated a little more today. I did run a load of laundry, did some dishes and we returned my wheelchair to the rental place today. So another step towards recovery has been taken. I'm hoping to drive next week. The clutch will be the test. That's my bad ankle. We shall see. I'll just take a short trip with Jim in the car with me to make sure I can handle it. I'm sure I can.
September is winding to a close. It's been a busy month but since I now have my last cast off, it has been a wonderful month!!! Did I mention how HAPPY that I am that my cast is off???
September 28, 2006 - Thursday
Today in Weather History:
2003: Just one tree! A storm knocked a tree into a power line in the Swiss Alps early am; the resulting domino effect of power failures led to the loss of power for essentially the entire country of Italy; ~57 million people in the country were without electricity.
Received a Weather Alert from our local SKYWARN--County people with the following info:
A Severe Thunderstorm Watch has been issued for KG until 9pm. Severe Tstorms can cause heavy rains, high winds, and tornados.
And by the radar I see some storms have started to form ahead of the main line, not really headed for us, yet. One is currently hitting Fredericksburg and heading NE from there. The main line of storms has just approached the Blue Ridge and appears to be holding together as it crosses. We shall see. It hasn't been very humid until today and it's still not as humid as we normally have when storms are about. I think we may see some rain during the late evening, but doubt storms will hold the severe status long enough to reach us. We shall see though. I'm not a meteorologist.
Whoops. I was wrong. It's thundering and lightning a little so I'm going to shut down for the evening!
September 27, 2006 - Wednesday
Today in Weather History:
1982 (26th-27th): More than 2" of rain led to flash flooding in Springdale, UT, just after midnight. The approaching flood sounded like a "jet aiplane." Boulders the size of autos reportedly filled some drains/culvert. =$800,000.
Updated my September accomplishments list. At least I feel like I did something, whether or not it's really an accomplishment is a matter of opinion, I'm sure. Did I accomplish anything for mankind? No. Have I ever? I doubt it. Would I like to? Of course! But I figure, just keeping out of trouble and living my life the best I can, that's an accomplishment, isn't it????
Beautiful weather we're having, in the 70's, clear, lower humidity. I know we'll have more humidity before fall is over, but at least we're on the downward trend now. Hallelujah!!!!
Ran laundry and picked up some stuff that had been shuffled while I was sleepin' on the sofa. Still have lots to do but I can only do a little each day. No pain in the achilles, but the heel burns from the blister that covered the whole heel. How long does it take to re-toughen up anyway??? And my ankle aches when I've been on it for a period of time. So have to elevate it occasionally. But I'm doing great and again so-o-o-o glad to have the old cast off!!!!
Not much else new today. Keepin' outta trouble and just treadin' water, so to speak.....
September 26, 2006 - Tuesday
Today in Weather History:
1950: Smoke particles from forest fires can be blown long distances by hig-altitude jet stream winds. Today, smoke particles from fires in Alberta, Canada, were observed in the sky high above Great Britain.
Ran another load of laundry and did some paperwork today. So didn't tire myself out quite as bad. Practiced some songs and worked on some genealogy stuff that was pending. Have lots of that to do and will spend more time later this week working on it.
We have been very lucky this year as far as hurricanes are concerned. They've all been steered back out to the Northeast in the Atlantic Ocean due to either high pressure systems coming off the Atlantic Coast or high pressure systems sitting out in the center of the Atlantic Ocean. So be thankful, very thankful, for that this year.
The next system, which may or maynot become "Isaac" will also follow the same path that Helene did just recently. So nothing on the immediate horizon. And guess what folks, September is the peak month and we are headed out of that into October very soon, so I'd say, though we are not out of the woods yet, we're almost home-free.
September 25, 2006 - Monday
Today in Weather History:
1997: Add El Niño in the E. Pacific, large swells from a distant storm in the Gulff of Alaska, effects of Hurricane Nora, and high tide. The result: 5-8' waves moving onshore and flooding a 14-block stretch of Seal Beah, CA. Quick response by city crews limited damage.
Trying to get back into a routine of some sort. Ran two loads of laundry, but was tired enough afterwards that I had to rest for an hour. So I did. But then I did cook supper and Jim helped with the dishes. It really takes awhile to get back some strength after so long with inactivity.
September 24, 2006 - Sunday
Today in Weather History:
1966: Waterpouts do not have to be near land. A pilot reported a spout about 3- miles NE of Lilue, Kauai, HI. Although the funnel was about 1/8th mile wide, the ocean surface was "white and distrubed" in an area >1/2 mile in diameter. No lightning or rain near the funnel.
Ran to town to pickup a couple items that we forgot. Had coupons also for some things that were only good today. Very humid and hot today, upper 80's. No storms yesterday but supposed to again today. We shall see.
September 23, 2006 - Sabbath
Today in Weather History:
1883: Hail accumulated 2-4" deep at College Hill (Hamilton County), OH. It was considered the greatest depth since "the settlement of this part of the country." One greenhouse lost 5,000 panes of glass.
Warmed up today and breezy. Humidity is up and we're supposed to get some storms.
September 22, 2006 - Friday
Today in Weather History:
1993: Unusual cause of injuries to athletes. Sever thunderstorm winds to 86 mph propelled golf-ball-size hail into 12 high school football players at Shawnee, KS. the storm also dented vehicles and uprooted trees.
Busy day, did some grocery shopping and stuff like that. Nothing else new. Everybody's busy doing the routines.
September 21, 2006 - Thursday
Today in Weather History:
1982: An interesting story for one's grandchildren. A F1 tornado damaged 17 homes and uprooted trees and shrubbery at Oldsmar, FL. It lifted a 78 year-old man 10 fett into the air, then set him down gently without any injury.
Muscle aches sustain the day. Haven't used them in over 3 months, so it doesn't take much to have sore leg muscles! Otherwise, I'm getting around just fine, slowly, but just wonderful!!!
Have I mentioned how happy I am to not have any casts on????? Twelve weeks was a long, long, long, long, long, long time. But it's over and I'm SO-O-O-O happy!!!!!
It got down into the 50's last night and much lower humidity. I love the lower humidity! And the lower temps, though it could go a little lower for me to really be happy. Maybe the upper 30's to mid 40's. That's the most comfortable!
I have so much I want to accomplish this next couple of weeks. Who would've ever thought that I would miss doing housework???? I have alot to catch up on. Jim, bless his heart, has done a wonderful job working all day at his job, then coming home to do laundry, vacuuming, cleaning, waiting on me, shopping and cooking etc. But there are things that I want to do, need to do, that make me happy! So, hopefully, as the strength increases in my legs and ankle, I'll get to do more and more each day!!!! I'm SO excited.
Next month, or maybe at the end of this month, I'm going to add something to my monthly journal. Seth does this on his journals each month and I like the idea, so I'm going to copy him! He puts a summary online each month of his personal accomplishments in his journal "news" webpage. Books he has read, things he has done, places he has gone and so on. So if I can get mine organized, I will include it this month. I don't have so much in the area of places I have gone, since I pretty much stay at home, prefer staying at home! But this month in particular, I have read alot of books, accomplished some genealogy projects and so forth, so will include those. In future months I will also include some weather data for our house, such as high & low temps, rainfall amounts etc. Who knows, maybe, thinking aloud here, maybe I'll set up separate webpages just for this stuff....I'll think on it. But for this month and the rest of this year, 2006, I'll include it in this journal at the end of the month.
Do I not have enough to do or what???
September 20, 2006 - Wednesday
Today in Weather History:
2004: Timing is everything. Excessive rains led to a rock fall on Going to the Sun Road in MT's Glacier NP. Exiting a tunnel, a Canadian couple's 2003 Porsche Carrera GT was hit by 15-20 basketball-size rocks. The couple were hospitalized.
Another accomplishment!!! I was able to put on my left shoe today!!!! It's snug due to some minor swelling still, but I'm so glad to be able to wear it for awhile. Makes my world more vertical again!!!
Doesn't take much to make me happy. But that's just me. I'm just SO-O-O-O happy not to have the casts on anymore!!!
Other than my happiness about putting on a shoe.... Not much else happening, at least that I'm going to write about. There's always stuff going on. Jimmy's busy with school, work and his girlfriend; Seth's busy with school, work and his girlfriend; Jim's busy with work and taking care of me and the house....
I finished pulling the indexes from my genealogy CD's that I have, which was a huge job. Each index is anywhere from 7 - 40+ pages and I have quite a few of them, like 102 of them.... So it took me awhile, even in the "cut & paste" mode. But tis done and now it's easier to do surname searches. I just look up on the indexes and then pull the correct CD's instead of pulling all the CD's out and searching each one individually. Great time saver!
Now I need to get back to my scanning....and of course, I'm trying to take over doing some things around the house slowly. Can't stand for any length of time yet, but am able to go up the steps and work on laundry abit. That's a big step!!!
September 19, 2006 - Tuesday
Today in Weather History:
1995 (20th-21st): The earliest snow of record fell on much of Western Kansas; 2-3" common in SW Kansas (up to 6" in Lane County). In NW Kansas, 6-12" common (12" at McDonald, 6" at Goodland and Oakley). The heavy wet snow damaged many trees still in full leaf and snapped power lines.
It is so unbelievable to have my foot free!!! I'm sure enjoying my "cast-free" existence! I'm getting around ok with the cane. I'm supposed to wear the removeable cast except when I'm sleeping, but I'm still not on my feet much today, so haven't put it on yet. If I start doing more walking, I'll wear it.
I forgot to mention that we had .76" of rain on Friday nite. I felt bad Friday thru Monday, until the cast came off. It was pretty miserable that last couple of days. But now it's all in the past and I'm SO happy!!!!
We've been watching the "Most Amazing Prophecies" with Doug Batchelor on 3ABN. It's been pretty good so far. He's stickin' with Bible prophecies more than just church doctrine. And I love learning about the end of time. I always have. Prophecies fasinate me. I'm going to get a book on Daniel and Revelation just to study it some more.
September 18, 2006 - Monday
Today in Weather History:
1950: Severe thunderstorms can produce more damage than most tornadoes. Near Weyauwega, WI, squall-line winds to 150 mph killed 2, hurt 9. Four homes and 57 farm buildings were destroyed; 50% of trees in Weyauwega area were blown down.
2003: And my own little weather history....This is the 3rd anniversary of Hurricane Isabel for our house, here in VA. We had sustained winds, reported officially, between 75-85 mph with gusts over 100 mph. Not much rain, but humid and windy. Very windy. We lost power around 3:30 pm on that Thursday before the eye had even made landfall down in North Carolina and didn't get power back until almost 11 days later. We lost some huge trees, but no damages to the house or shed or vehicles. I wasn't afraid during the storm, but later, when I saw the size of the trees that went down around our house, then I was afraid. And so very thankful that none had come down on us. Check out my Hurricane Isabel page to see photos and details about that storm. It went through us as a Category 1 hurricane.
Had a rough weekend with my cast. I guess over-doing it last week caused extra swelling and I apparently blistered most of the bottom of my foot, which then stuck to the material inside the cast and whenever I moved, painfully was ripping off skin. Ouch!
Good news is, well, GREAT news is: (drum roll.....) MY CAST IS OFF!!! After 12 long weeks of 4 different casts! HALLELUJAH!!! I AM SO-O-O-O GLAD!!!!!
I was surprised at how weak my ankle is, even though I've been moving around in the casts pretty easily. I'm having to use a cane for now, just for a little extra support until my ankle gains some strength back. I have a couple mild exercises that I'm doing for the next 3 weeks to loosen up the ankle before I can start physical therapy.
But I am SO HAPPY to be out of the casts!!!!
September 17, 2006 - Sunday
Today in Weather History:
1996: Pacific Hurricane Fausto's remains, having moved NE from Mexico, reformed into a powerful coastal storm off the DelMarVa coast. It passed E of MA's Cape Cod p.m. Wind gusts to 50 mph, rains to 4", minor coastal flooding in New York, NY region.
Happy Birthday Penny !!!
September 16, 2006 - Sabbath
Today in Weather History:
2004 (13th-16th): Hurricane Ivan affected coastal AL and Western panhandle of FL; landfall occured near Gulf Shore, AL, early today. A buoy just S of the Al coastal waters reported an incredible peak wave height of 52' (on the 15th) before breaking loose of its mooring.
September 15, 2006 - Friday
Today in Weather History:
1995: Pacific Ocean hurricanes can cause flooding far away from the ocean. The remnants of what had been Hurricane Ismael deluged parts of SE NM with up to 10" rain. In Hobbs, water was waist deep in some streets and 8' (foot) deep on soccer fields.
It's still very overcast and sprinkling rain, periodically. Nothing measureable today, so far. They've changed the forecast to be off and on showers through tomorrow morning. Haven't seen anything on the radar for us this afternoon. So far.
Got the last cabinet moved this afternoon and reloaded with stuff. At a later date, I'll go through all of it and toss out stuff that I don't need. I just don't feel like doing it right now. That's a "winter stay-inside" project!
Most of the first run TV programs start next week. Doug Batchelor's new series on 3ABN starts tonight and runs for a couple weeks, I forget how long. We watched a preview of it and it looks like it will be interesting.
Haven't scanned anything this week, or worked much on genealogy. Been focusing my energy on moving some furniture around and sorting through stuff. Sorta fall cleaning, except it's spring cleaning, since I'm behind.
Actually, I did spend a couple evenings on the computer this past week, resizing some photographs that we have taken. The reason is for my "inspiration" notebook that I've started. When I see a neat photo in a magazine or mostly photos we have taken over the years, I've started resizing them, printing them out with several on a page and putting them in a notebook. I've divided the notebook up into categories, animals, butterflies, flowers, landscapes, seascapes, snowscapes, sunsets/rises, people, and so on. The "inspiration" part is for oil painting and drawing purposes. Remember awhile back I said that practice makes perfect, so these are for me to practice with.
I've been doing a little drawing sometimes in the evening when I can't sleep. But once the cast is off my foot, I'm planning on doing some oil paintings again. The only way that I'll get better at it, is with lots and lots of practice. So...with the notebook, I'll have all my "inspirations" to get me started. And also I want to paint all the paintings that are in the Bob Ross books that I have too. Between the Bob Ross examples and my own photographs, I should be able to get alot of practice!!!!
I just can't wait until this last cast is gone!!!! Soon, very soon. Or I'm going to take it off myself.....I just need a saw.... Scissors don't work.....
September 14, 2006 - Thursday
Today in Weather History:
1982: Fast moving water only 6" deep can sweep people off their feet. At Brownsville, KY, two boys wading through water near a culvert were swept into a concrete drain. Their rescuer said he saw only "four hands sticking out of the water" before saving them.
We had .76" rain last night and through the day today. Dreary. But everything is greening up. Too little, too late. Corn fields are pretty much a loss around the area. The rains from Ernesto didn't come in time to save the harvests.
Today I tackled the vanity and nite stands. Got them moved to the correct place in the room but not really set up. I need to clean out the drawers and go through stuff to toss old stuff etc.
The other thing I tackled was one of the cabinets which houses sewing stuff, material mostly. I emptied it, carried all the stuff into my room and then moved the cabinet, refilled the cabinet. I actually started to unload the 2nd cabinet and moved it's contents to my room also. But I got tired and once the swelling goes up inside the cast I have to stop and elevate. So project was not completed. At this point it may be the weekend before I can finish. We'll see.
The good news is that each day this week I set some lofty goals and have, for the most part, achieved them! It will be easier, I believe, once the cast is gone, to continue getting more and more caught up around the house!
September 13, 2006 - Wednesday
Today in Weather History:
1995: The NY State Drought Task Force updated it's watch to "Drought Warning" for the Hudson Valley. Some cities using the Hudson River for water found abnormally high levels of sodium because the river salt line moved farther upstream with lower river levels.
Got the bookcase moved today. Big job and overdid it abit today. Very tired. Not used to so much activity. Still need to finish the vanity and nite stands moving which I'd hope to do the same time as the bookcase, but it was too much.
September 12, 2006 - Tuesday
Today in Weather History:
1882 (12th-15th): Hot, dry South winds blew across much of Kansas & Missouri; temperatures peaked from 100°F to 110°F. The relative humidity at Lawrence, Kansas, fell to 7% on this date. It was said that the arid conditions burned tree leaves to the point that "they crumbled to powder at a touch".
Well, I am so proud of myself. I've been setting a goal each day this week of several things to accomplish. And I've been DOING it!!! Monday, I moved the sewing desk and stuff associated with it. Today I moved my bureau and all the stuff associated with it. Tomorrow I'll tackle the bookcase and go through the books and magazines, tossing the old mags and catalogs. (I have a bad habit of saving all the old craft catalogs-dreaming that I'll be able to order stuff from them someday!!!) Some of the old catalogs have ideas and instructions on how to do different projects so I have to sort through to make sure I'm not tossing something important. That's the "pack-rat" in me!!! Thursday, I'll move my hobby cabinet which has material and sewing stuff in it. Actually, that one I need help with, so will empty it and wait for Jimmy to get home from school. Friday, I'll finish vacuuming, dusting and general pickup of miscellaneous stuff. And that will be my upstairs Spring cleaning. (I'm behind).
Oh, didn't I tell you it involved moving furniture around???? The only way to clean. Don't worry, I'm not over-doing on my ankle. I spend about two hours working on stuff, then I get the foot elevated again. I don't lift heavy stuff, but I am able to push and pull stuff now without any pain at all!
Next week, I'll start the downstairs, slowly but surely. I don't have my "to do" list made up for downstairs yet, but will work on that over the weekend. After Christmas, I'll work on my "Fall Cleaning" --still behind, and then by April, I might actually catch up to "Spring Cleaning" again!
And once this last cast is off, I will be able to do more. But again, I won't do anything that may cause pain. I'm still going to GRADUALLY get back to doing everything. Not all at once. Still no heavy lifting or standing for long time periods. Also have to be easy on the steps and such. Bending to the floor still causes a slight tinge in the back of the leg, but not nearly as bad as it did. So, I'm VERY pleased!!!!
September 11, 2006 - Monday
In Honor & Rememberance of September 11, 2001
Today is the fifth anniversary of 9/11. All of us remember with perfect clarity what we were doing at the moment we heard about the Twin Towers, the Pentagon and Flight 93 in a Pennsylvania field. We will never forget.
There have been other occasions in our lives' that we can remember vividly, with great detail, exactly what we were doing. I was a child of 12 when President John Kennedy was shot. I didn't know anything about the man except that he was our President. Mom told me that I would remember that day for the rest of my life. She was right. I remember the news, I remember seeing the replay of the presidents' vehicle speeding off with Mrs. Kennedy climbing over the back seat onto the trunk for the secret service man. I remember the footage of her getting off the airplane following the casket, still wearing her pink, blood-soaked dress/suit. I remember the funeral procession that aired live on TV of the casket going to the Capitol Building, then later to the Arlington Cemetery. And I remember John-John, who was only a toddler saluting the casket as it passed by because it was drapped with an American flag. Yes, I will always remember that day.
Another day was the Challenger explosion, later the Columbia. I remember the night President Nixon resigned as President.
My parents generation also has days of infamy. Hiroshama, Nagasaki, Pearl Harbor, D-Day, V-Day. And many more. Each generation experiences tragedy in some form, not only in a personal form, but as a nation. We've gone through it, and though it was difficult, life-changing for most, we have emerged as a stronger people.
Terrorism is not new. At least to the rest of the world. We've heard of it, seen it on the news, watched other countries have to deal with it on a daily basis. Now we know what it is like to face it. On 9/11 of 2001, our "innocence" was once again violated by evil, criminal men who hate us, not because of what we do or who we are, but because we exist at all. You cannot reason with them, you cannot bargain with them.
But we are a strong country. We may not agree on many things, but if you mess with the USA, you are going get burned.
The innocent people who died 5 years ago on this date will always be remembered. The soldier men and women who are fighting for this country, against this evil terrorism, who are giving their all, will also be remembered and honored. They fight so that we can continue with our everyday lives, almost as if nothing had happened. But we remember. It did. Five years ago today. And we won't ever forget.
September 10, 2006 - Sunday
Today in Weather History:
1963 (10th-11th): Tropical systems produce many of the world's rainfall records. Typhoon Gloria generated the 49.13" rain that fell on Paishih, Taiwan. This became the 24 hour rainfall record for the Northern Hemisphere.
Just haven't felt as good this week. Tired and all. I'll just be glad when this last cast comes off. I feel like it's dead weight to walk around on it these days. Soon, less than 2 weeks!
Not much going on. Jim did some work outside that has needed to be done and Jimmy worked on homework and other stuff in his room that needed to be caught up. And just some good-ole free time for himself, which was a treat, from all his lessons and job!
Seth was shooting at a match near the Colorado/New Mexico border this weekend but I haven't heard any results yet. I'll call him later this week to see how he did.
September 9, 2006 - Sabbath
Today in Weather History:
1900: (8th-9th)- America's worst natural disaster (in terms of lives lost) was caused by an unnamed hurricane that hit Galveston Island, TX. 120+ mph winds and a 20 foot storm surge killed 6,000+ at Galveston and 1,200 elsewhere on the upper TX Gulf Coast.
I read a book about this hurricane a couple years ago called "Isaac's Storm". I think the History Channel or one of those types made a TV movie documentary of it also. It was really something! Isaac was the meteorologist that was stationed/living on Galveston Island. He noted the weather changes, but they had nothing to compare it with and all the reports across the Gulf and Carribean were not reporting a bad storm. Most of the island went under the seas. One of the parts that really got to me was the orphanage on the island that housed about 200 children and had I forget how many nuns.
As the fury of the storm was in full swing the Sisters had continually moved the children up in the orphanage dormitory to escape the fast rising surge. I believe there were 2 children that survived, I may be wrong on the number since it was a couple years ago when I read the book. Anyway, to make a long story short, after the storm was over and the survivors were collecting the 1000's of bodies, someone noticed the body of a "Sister" on the beach. As they dug her up, they realized there was a rope attached to her and as they continued to dig, they dug up all the children that had been roped to her. The sisters had divided up the children as best they could and tied each group together when they realized the building would not hold and that they would all be in the raging seas. I believe the ones that survived had made it to a tree and weren't tied to the nuns.
Isaac, his children and brother's family all survived. Isaac's wife did not survive. The exact total fatalities will never be known. It's an interesting account of the storm and a good book to read if you are interested in weather and disaster type historical events.
I was young when Hurricane Hazel passed through Maryland and Virginia in October 1954. Folks here in VA said it was pretty bad here, many trees down and such. But up in MD where I lived, I remember one thing and that was my great-grandmother's house had water almost up to the 2nd floor. Perhaps I only remember from the photos my Dad took, or was it a thing I remembered seeing? Who knows?
I do remember Hurricane Donna in 1960. We lived in a trailer on the property where Dad was building our house. As the storm approached, Dad drove huge stakes into the ground around our trailer and threw ropes across the trailer and tied them into the stakes to hold down the trailer. I remember my mother being very afraid of the approaching hurricane, telling me how you never go outside when the storm first seems to stop because it will start up again and be even worse.. She paced the floor alot, from window to window but didn't want me near the windows.
We rode out the storm. I guess I played with toys in the living room of the trailer through most of it. I remember it raining very hard and the wind was noisy but mostly I remember that rain, all day long. Our trailer stayed fast, Dad had done a good thing! Many trailers in nearby locations were tossed like toys. I don't remember anything else about it.
I've never been afraid of hurricanes, mainly because I've never been through a real bad one. When Isabel came through VA in 2003, even though she was just a category 1, I changed my mind. I wasn't afraid even as the storm was in full rage. It wasn't until afterwards, when I saw the damages, the trees down, that's when I became afraid. Those were HUGE trees that came down. If they had fallen on the house, it would've cut the house in two. Now when they talk about the storms coming this way, I become afraid.
No, not panicky afraid, but very healthy respectful afraid. Plan ahead, have emergency supplies on hand. And if you are not in a safe location, get yourself to one right away. And cut down those huge trees near your house!
I've been working on Hurricane pages and have most of them up through part of 2005. I still want to collect photos of the various storms to add to the pages, so the website is a work in progress. If you are interested in historical hurricane data, check out my website: N4KUP-Weather-Hurricanes.
Meanwhile, keeping our eyes on the tropics through the rest of this month, nothing immediate in our future. Hopefully.
September 8, 2006 - Friday
Today in Weather History:
1995: Lightning hit the shotgun a hunter was holding while standing under a tree near Hoyt, CO. He died, and a companion was injured. On the 29th, a lightning bolt struck the umbrella a couple was using while walking in the rain in Aurora. They survived.
Happy Birthday Jimmy Prahl !!!!!!
Did a little shopping today to replace some of our frozen stuff that had to be tossed after Ernesto. I've been extra tired this week for some reason. Only a couple more weeks of the casts hopefully and then maybe I can get back into some sort of routine!!!
I figured out how to get some of the back SS Lessons, then I found a website that had them in PDF format.... Anyway, went through some of those. And in the middle of all of this my adobe reader decided to quit working... So, maybe when I reboot tomorrow it will be ok. If not, JIM...HELP...!
He is always having to "rescue" me in some form or another. Whether it's on the computer or just rushing me to ER's through the years.... What a guy!!
September 7, 2006 - Thursday
Today in Weather History:
2001: Squall line winds to 60 mph snapped the mast holding the MetLife blimp Snoopy II where it was tethered at the downtown airport in Kansas City, MO. The unmanned blimp was blown ~70 miles in about 2 hours, it landed near Chillicothe, MO.
I vaguely remember that one on the nightly news. But nothing else about it.
Pulled out about a dozen or so indexes from some of my CD's for genealogy. That way I don't have to pull out each CD and check it individually when I'm searching for a new surname. I can just go the the Index folder and search the word documents and then decide which CD I need to check out! Cool, huh?
Was exploring Seth's website, N3MRA, yesterday and checking out more of his new photos he has posted. He has some cool train photos for those of you who like trains! And a reminder that his storm chase photos from last year are on his webpages also.
The college has added more work hours for Jimmy. He is in demand! Ain't that just the coolest thing? And Jessica, his girlfriend, started her new job yesterday too. Congrats to both!!!
Other than all this, nothing else going on. Just a quiet, routine, normal day in the lives of the Price family! I'll take it!
September 6, 2006 - Wednesday
Today in Weather History:
1881: Smoke from forest fires in MI, NY and ON darkened skies in much of the Northeast. "Darkness in daytime" was due, in part, to thick smoke reducing sunlight to 10% of normal. Some schools and businesses closed.
We are so blessed in this country. Yeah, I know, it ain't perfect. But when you see the photos from other countries, the wars, the diseases, the starvation, the lack of clothes and things to get folks through a normal day, well, we are so very blessed.
My accomplishments today were still less than I had hoped to do. But when the foot swells, this cast is small enough to be uncomfortable. So I have to elevate it. But I still did a few minor things.
I have worked some more on some of my genealogy pages also. Slowly but surely adding data into my "Family Tree" computer program and will also be retyping the same data over onto my surname webpages. Like I said, slowly, but surely. Didn't do any scanning today.
I receive many emails daily, mostly from genealogy lists that I'm on, but also from some craft lists, scrapbooking lists, music lists, art lists and so on. You get the gist of it.
Well, I spent some time last night and today sorting through all the thousands of emails that I have received to decide whether it is a "save" or "delete". It's time consuming, but periodically necessary for things to continue to function at their optimum. So that is one thing done off all of my "to do" lists!
Watching Florence, currently a Tropical Storm, expected to be a hurricane soon. Not going to affect us here on the East Coast, so the predictions say. However, hope you don't have any plans to be in Bermuda in the next couple a weeks.
The current projected path is to pass just west of the island. This means the worst part of the hurricane, the right quadrant will pass very near or directly over Bermuda, next Monday. Course, it's still a week away. Hurricanes always change directions somewhat, so I wouldn't get real concerned about it yet. But I would definitely be watching it very, very closely if I lived or was planning to be in Bermuda.
September 5, 2006 - Tuesday
Today in Weather History:
1993: Lightning "tends" to hit the highest object. Near Blanding, UT, lightning hit and killed a man in an alfalfa field. He was shorter and at a lower elevation than 3 nearby companions (who were knocked down by the bolt, but otherwise unhurt).
We got 2.84" of rain today. Where did that come from? It's been cloudy and dreary all afternoon too. Good news is that it's keeping the temperatures down. But even with the house closed up, stuff is damp. Power went out very briefly this morning and I panicked. Just a gut reaction. But it came right back on, flickered on and off a couple times, but before I could moan "Oh No", the power had returned!
Our local grocery stores have nothing in the frigerated or freezer sections. Probably due to the power outages from Ernesto. Keeping an eye on Florence.
That's something that I need to do. I never finished updating all the storms for 2005 on my webpages. So it's on my "to do" list as soon as I get the surname pages data uploaded. It all takes time but I'll get there. Eventually. Don't hold your breath or anything like that. But it will get done, I promise.
September 4, 2006 - Monday
Today in Weather History:
1998 (3rd-5th): A hot September as monthly records set/tied in C/S Plains. Today's monthly records include: 110°F in McAlester, OK; 109°F in Fort Smith, AR; 108°F in Dallas/Fort Worth TX and Wichita Falls, TX; 107°F in Oklahoma City and Tulsa, OK.
Happy Labor Day !!!
Do you know what this holiday is about? Check out this website to learn the history!
It's been overcast and in the 70's most of the day. Towards evening a light rain has developed and it has dropped to a humid 63°. I've been working on my "A" surname webpages today. Actually fell asleep last night in the wheelchair, in front of the computer. Don't ask me how, since there is no real back support or head rest of any kind. I finally did make it to the sofa.
Seth received a wonderful letter today from someone who had read something he had written. I won't go into details online due to privacy. But it was a wonderful letter and I'm so proud of him. Our lives all touch others in some way and we may never know how. But his has made a difference with a person that was so kind as to write him a wonderful letter. Seth, you've made us all very proud of the man you have grown to be. But we were already proud of you!
Working on the "A" names today, I came across some data from a couple of other researchers on the Ashley name, that makes me question some of my data. I've printed out stuff to study tonight, but may have to update and revise and make some corrections in my data!
I've also decided to add some specific pages for wills, vital records (b,m,d), land records and so on. I've included them within some of the surname pages, but I saw a webpage today that had wills listed individually on their own page, alphabetically. So I'm going to give that a try. I have alot of wills, so may have to go to individual pages for "A" wills and "B" wills etc. But I'll be playing around with that in the next few weeks.
My other projects are scanning more magazines and documents. That's an on-going project which is time consuming but well worth the effort in the long run.
I'm adding the "generic" source list to all my surname pages with a note to contact me for specific data sources if needed. It is just way too tedious to go through all the online data and specify each specific source, at this time. Maybe someday, but not right now. However, I do have the specifics in my personal programs, so I can refer to them easily for anyone who needs something specific.
We're using up our freezer food, meats first and other stuff on the sides. We've actually used alot of the upstairs stuff, but just getting into the big freezer foods. Has to be done. Though it stayed cool, it just won't keep as long now after thawing and re-freezing. Eyes watching the stuff in the Atlantic with more alertness this time!!!!
Ain't it GREAT to have power???? !!!!!
September 3, 2006 - Sunday
Today in Weather History:
1968: Insult added to injury. Lightning hit a man on a tractor near Fay, OK, while he was drilling wheat. It burned one side of his head and caused a hearing loss. He was also cut and bruised by the drill, which ran over him after he was knocked from his tractor.
Happy Birthday Gail !!!!!!
We had some sprinkles today in the morning, but nothing heavy. Beautiful sky when the sun would dare to peak through. Some of the other folks on our road didn't get power back until this afternoon. I'm so glad we got ours yesterday afternoon. And now the weathermen are trying to tease us about another system out in the Atlantic that is being tracked.
You can bet that I'll pay a little closer attention to the rest of the hurricane season. Was blindsided for sure on Ernesto.
There were several baskets of clean clothes sitting around upstairs that had been washed but never folded or hung up. So I made it up the steps and worked on those today. I got them done plus folded 3 more loads that Jim ran for me today. Felt good to feel useful!!! Also picking stuff up so I can have the kids move some furniture around for me this week. I'll just supervise, not going to do any lifting or moving stuff myself. I don't want to cause any additional damage to my achilles if I can avoid it. Course, you would think after 10 weeks (so far) of being in a cast, it would be somewhat healed by now.
That's really all that I accomplished today. But that's more than I've been accomplishing each day! And I went up and down the steps today (once) with no pain afterwards, so that's very promising.
I'll see what I can do tomorrow! It's not like I haven't got tons of things that need to be done. But the cast is clunky and awkward and causes me to put extra weight on my other leg which causes some discomfort on my back and hips. Once I can get rid of this cast and put on a regular shoe, I think that type of discomfort will disappear.
I filed my weather report about Ernesto with the local NWS here in Virginia last night. I would've done it sooner, but, no power. So better late than never!
September 2, 2006 - Sabbath
Today in Weather History:
1974: Around 1:30 am a weak tornado skipped across parts of the Bronx and Mount Vernon, NY. The path width varied between 50 and 200 yards; it's length was 2 miles. It caused minor damage and no injuries.
Wow! What a exciting few hours we have had. Old Tropical Storm Ernesto wasn't supposed to do much except some possible rain and light winds. HA. Oh, yes, it rained. And oh, yes, we got some wind. True, it was nothing compared to Isabel of 2003. However, it was enough to take down some trees and electric lines. Roads leading to our house were totally blocked either by downed trees and power lines or flooding. Power went out at 11:30 am on Friday morning. Well ahead of the storms' actual presence in Virginia. What is with the power grids here in Virginia? Are they so poorly planned that a small tropical storm knocks thousands of people out of power for days at a time??
So the tally is this, we lost power for 30 hours. (got it back at 5:20pm today). Lost a few trees, at least one behind the shed and probably others in the woods, no damages thankfully. Roads have been cleared mostly today. Jimmy worked on the small trees blocking our lane and got all those cleared out today. We weren't prepared for this one mainly because I listened to the weathermen on TV and didn't study it myself. Power company got the trees off the lines down our road this afternoon and restored our power. We had to run the generator, but due to the heavy rain, couldn't run it soon enough to save all our frig and freezer food. Some of it thawed during the night and is a total loss, but most is usable so this week we'll be going through and checking it all out.
And we had 7.6 inches of rain. Yep, you heard me, 7.6 inches. It was actually more than that, but the gauge had overflowed at one point so we are talking closer to 8 inches in reality. That's alot of rain.
This storm wasn't even scarey. HALLELUJAH!!!! Glad that it wasn't worse. I know some areas of Virginia were harder hit, such as around the Va Beach area. But hopefully, this is it for this year????? Thankfully, it's been a quieter year than last year.
Ah, it is so nice to have power back!!! I really guess I'm a spoiled modern person. I don't want to "rough" it. I like electricity. I like having cold in the frig and hot in the shower! I like having running water and being able to flush the toilets. I like being able to turn the fan on or lights on to read at night (not by flashlight as I did last night!). I like having music and TV and radio and something cold to drink out the frig. Or hot cooked food when I'm hungry. And I like being able to get on my computer and read my emails and work on my journal or research my family history. Yep, I'm spoiled. I like having my power back!
September 1, 2006 - Friday
Today in Weather History:
1982: Dust to Dust? Near Blair, WI, lightning hit and killed 2 horses. They were a mated pair, both were born on the same day during a thunderstorm. Their names were Lightning and Thunder.
Can't believe it's already September!! Where has the year gone??? All those resolutions, all those lists of things I wanted to accomplish this year, down the toilet!!! Well, I messed up, after all, by breaking my heelbone and tearing the achilles tendon. Maybe, just maybe, I'll get out of the casts this month! Wouldn't that be fantastic???
I'm starting the new "Today in Weather History" this month from that Weather Calendar I got. So you'll notice that is new, just under the daily dates. It may get old for some of you after a few weeks, but sorry, I love weather stuff, so I'm going to do it for awhile.
If you didn't finish reading the August Daily Journal, you can still see it by clicking here. Or to see any of my old Jounals, you can go to my Archives page to view it, by clicking here. Be sure to hit your back button to return to this page when you are done.
Has your garden been a good one this year? That's one of the things I've missed the last few years, but it would've been more than I could handle. In a few years, we're hoping to have a garden here in Va. We had a real nice one up in Westminster for the years we lived there! It will be harder to get going here due to all the trees. But in time....
I always try to do my journal pages to reflect the season. It's not really fall in September here in Virginia. We still have hot, humid days but some of the nights get a slight bit cooler. Anyway, to represent September in Virginia, I've included the clipart of flowers and veggies. And to represent the weather aspect, I've used my standard hurricane background. September is usually the peak of the season for the monster storms. This year, thus far has been quiet. Somebody, PLEASE, knock on wood!!!!
Of course, all eyes are on Tropical Storm/Depression Ernesto. Yes, it was a hurricane at one point before crossing Cuba. Then it nearly fell apart, but made it across Florida. It has strengthened surprisingly fast, not like what the weathermen were saying. It has gained Tropical Storm status very quickly. It will bear watching, though the predictions for this area are mostly just a rain event and perhaps a mild windy condition, nothing serious.
You will also notice the "weather" thingy near the top of this journal, which I've been including on the last several months. This is the current weather statistics for right here where I live, right at this moment.
And for you enthusiastic Christmas Lovers out there....
Only 114 days until Christmas!!!!
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